LA Opera got its season off to an auspicious beginning with starry revivals
of Gianni Schicchi and Pagliacci.
Month: September 2015
Verismo Double Header in Los Angeles
Viva Verdi at Opera Las Vegas
On September 9, 2015, Opera Las Vegas presented James Sohre’s production of Viva Verdi at the Smith Center’s Cabaret Jazz. It was a delightful evening of arias, duets and ensembles by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). The program included many of the composer’s blockbuster arias and scenes from famous operas such as Aida, La traviata, and Macbeth.
Barbera Sings a Fascinating Recital in San Diego
On Saturday, September 19, San Diego Opera opened its 2015-2016 season with a recital by tenor RenÈ Barbera. This was the first Polly Puterbaugh Emerging Artist Award Recital and no artist could have been more deserving than the immensely talented Barbera.
Sweeney Todd at the San Francisco Opera
Did the iconic “off-beat” and “serious” American musical hold the stage of the War Memorial Opera House? The excited audience (standees three deep) thought so and roared their appreciation.
Wigmore Hall Complete Schubert Song Series begins with Boesch and Johnson
The Wigmore Hall, London, has launched Schubert : The Complete Songs, a 40-concert series to run through the 2015 and 2016 seasons. There have been Schubert marathons before, like BBC Radio 3’s all-Schubert week and The Oxford Lieder Festival’s Schubert series last year, but the Wigmore Hall series will be a major landmark because the Wigmore Hall is the Wigmore Hall, the epitome of excellence.
Honegger: Jeanne d’Arc au b˚cher
Marion Cotillard and Marc Soustrot bring the drama to the sweeping score of Arthur Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au
b˚cher, an adaptation of the Trial of Joan of Arc
Luisa Miller in San Francisco
Luisa Miller sits on the fringes of the repertory, and since its introduction into the modern repertory in the 1970’s it comes around every 15 or so years. Unfortunately this 2015 San Francisco occasion has not bothered to rethink this remarkable opera.
Salieri: La grotta di Trofonio (Trofonio’s Cave)
Demonised by Pushkin and Peter Shaffer, Antonio Salieri lives in the public
imagination as the embittered rival of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — whose genius
he lamented and revered in equal measure, and against whom he schemed and
plotted at the Emperor Joseph II’s Viennese court.
Chicago Lyric’s Stars Shine at Millennium Park
The annual concert given by Lyric Opera of Chicago as an outdoor event previewing the forthcoming season took place on 11 September 2015 at Millennium Park.
Sondra Radvanovsky Stars in the Title Role of Anna Bolena
The First of Three Donizetti Queens She Will Sing at the Met This Season